Paint-box.



PATENTED AUG. 11, 1903.

G. H. WILLIAMS.

PAINT BOX.

APPLICATION FILED D20. 5. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

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UNITED STATES Patented August 11, 1905.

PATENT FFICE.

GEORGE WILLIAMS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-FOURTH TO ARTHUR E. TRUESDELL, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

PAINT-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 736,185, dated August 11, 1903.

" Application filed December 5, 1902. Serial No. 133,968- (No model) i T at whont it may concern):

Be it known that'I, GEORGE H. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented an Improvement in Paint- Boxes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,

is a specification, likefigures on the draw-- to and each tube has its outlet in communi-' cation with an aperture through the palette. With this construction by merely pressing the tube against the under side of the palette the material therein may be forced through the aperture and onto the top of the palette, where it may be used. Each tube is carried by a tube-carrying member having a duct therein, and suitable means are provided for detachably supporting each of the tube-carrying members so that its duct registers with the corresponding aperture in the palette. The tubes and tube-carrying members are contained in a compartment of the paint-box located below the palette, and a cover or lid is provided for permitting accessto the compartment when it is desired to use the device. In the drawings, Figure 1' is a perspective view of my improved paint-box, parts thereof being broken away to better show'the construction. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through a portion of the box, showing the manner of supporting the tubes; and Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one of the tube-carrying members and the tube supported thereby. Fig. 4 is a section through a portion of the box, showing one manner of connecting the carrier 24 to the box; and Fig. 5 is a section on the line of the apertures 6, showing the caps 23 in place over said apertures.

The paint-box 3 of any suitable construction is provided with the usual partition 4, which constitutes the palette, and beneath which is a compartment 8, adapted to contain the tubes 7 of pigments, oils, or other materials and which for convenience will be hereinafter designated as pigment-containing tubes. k

The box may have the usual cover 5 hinged thereto and provided with a recess for receiving the canvas or other material on which the painting is to be done.

The partition or palette 4 is provided with one or more apertures 6, and my invention consists in so supporting the tubes 7 in the compartment 8 that the outlet of each tube is in communication with the appropriate aperture 6, whereby the pigments or other materials in the tubes may be readily forced onto the palette whenever their use is desired. In this embodiment of my invention, which is the best form of the device now known to me, each tube is supported in a tube-carrying member 10, having a duct 11 therein which is adapted to convey the pig ment from the tube to the palette. The members 10 will each have a screw threaded socket 12, into which the neck of the tube may be screwed, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. To insure the maintenance of the proper alinement of the ducts 11 and apertures 6, Iprefer to pro- Vide each of said members 10 with anipple 13,

- through which the duct 11 extends, the said nipplebeing so situated and of such a size as to be received by an aperture 6 when the member 10 is in operative position, as best seen in Fig. 2. It will be notedthat the. socket 12 in each member 10 into which the neck of the tube is screwed extends in such a direction that the tube stands parallel with the palette 4 and in substantial contact with the under side thereof, so that the artist may at any time supply fresh pigment to his palette by merely pressing his finger against the under side of the tube containingthe color 5 which he desires, and thereby squeezing the tube between his finger and the palette, and by using two or more fingers of his hand at the same time two or more colors may be simultaneously supplied to the palette. 1 too In order that the compartment 8 may be accessible, I have provided the box with a ing each of them against the under side of the palette 4 and with the nipple in the aperture 6. This spring device may be made in various ways; but I have herein shown it as comprising a spring-finger 17, attached to each of the members 10 and adapted to engage the bottom of the compartment 8, as best shown in Fig. 2. With this construction when it is desired to remove a member 10 it is simply necessary to press the same away from the palette 4 until the nipple is disengaged from the aperture 6', when it can be readily removed, as is obvious. Upon replacing the member 10 it is simply necessary to so position it that the nipple will aline with the aperture, when the spring will automatically force it into its proper position.

WhileI have herein illustrated the tubes as being carried by removable tube-carrying members having a certain construction, I do not consider my invention as limited to this feature, as the tube-carrying members might each be so constructed as to carry two or more of the tubes orthey might be rigid with and form part of the box without in any way departing from my invention.

If the members 10 are made of Wood, it is desirable that the ducts 11 should have a lininglS of some suitable material, such as rubher, which will not absorb oil.

A suitable catch or fastening device 20 may be employed for holding the covers 5 and 16 closed when the box is being transported.

In order to prevent the pigments which remain in ducts 11 from becoming dry on the surface of the palette after the box has been out of use for some time, I may, if desired, employ a suitable device for covering the apertures 6 when the box is not being used, thereby to exclude the air from them, and thus to keep the pigments moist. Any suitable device may be employed for this purpose; but I will prefer to use either a pad, which can be placed over the apertures 6, or a plurality of cups or covers, which can be used in the same way. The advantage of the cups over the pad is that they do not become smeared with the paint or pigment which might ooze through the apertures. Where cups are used for this purpose, I will preferably employ one cup for covering each aperture, and all of the cups will preferably be carried by a bar or carrier.

The cups are designated by 23 and when in position will rest over and cover apertures 6, as shown in Fig. 5.

line position out of the way. When the box is to be closed, however, the carrier will. be swung back against the inside of the cover, so that when the cover is closed the caps will come into position over the aperture 6. A suitable spring 32 may be used toautomatically throw the carrier into its dotted-line position when the box is open. Instead of hinging the carrier to one side of the box the ends thereof may merely be set into notches 34: in the cover, as shown in Fig. 1. The particular way that this carrier is remorablysupported, however, is not essential to the invention, and I consider as coming within my invention any means for accomplishing this end.

While the partition is herein illustrated as being permanently secured to the box and forming an integral part thereof, yet it will be obvious that the invention would not be departed from if such partition were a removable one.

My improved paint-box is especially adapted for use in sketching, for with the construction employed the pigments may be supplied to the palette in a minimum time. This is especiallyimportantin makingqnicksketches of changing scenes-as, for instance, a sunset effect, where the particular efiect which it is desired to reproduce lasts but. a short time. In such acase if the artist desiring an added quantity of pigment of any particular color has to unscrew the cap of the tube and force some pigment onto the palette the time consumed may be such that by the time the paint is mixed and ready to use the color effect which he wished to produce has vanished; but with my improved structure the requisite amount of the different-colored pigments can always be kept on the palette without the necessity of interrupting the work of painting.

I believe that I am the first to devise a paintbox having such construction that by merely pressing the tubes against the under side of the palette the pigments maybe forced onto the palette, and therefore I desire to claim this feature broadly regardless of the parhaving its outlet communicating with the aperture whereby by pressing the tube against the under side of the palette the pigment may be forced onto the latter.

2. In a device of the class described, a palette having a plurality of apertures, and

\ support said member beneath the palette with its nipple projecting through the aperture,

and a pigment-containing tube carried by said member.

4. In a device of the class described, a palette having a plurality of apertures, a corresponding number of the tube-carrying members each having a duct to convey pigment to the palette, means to support said members with their ducts registering with the apertures, and a pigment-containing tube carried by each member and having its length parallel to the palette.

5. In a device of the class described, a palette having a plurality of apertures, a corresponding number of removable tube-carrying members each having a duct to convey pigment to the palette, means to support each member with itsduct registering with the corresponding aperture, and a pigment-containing tube carried by-each member, said tubes each having its length parallel to the palette.

6. A paint-box having a partition provided with an aperture and constituting a palette,

a compartment beneath the partition, and a pigment-containing tube supported in said compartment and having its outlet communieating with the aperture.

ity of apertures, a compartment beneath the partition, and a corresponding number of pigment-containing tubes supported in said compartment with their bodies parallel to the partition and each having its outlet communicating with the corresponding aperture.

8. A palette having an aperture, means to support a pigment-containing tube beneath the palette and parallel thereto, said tube having its outlet communicating with the apertures whereby by pressing the tube against the under side of the palette the pigment may be forced onto the latter, combined with means to cover the aperture in the palette when the latter is not in use.

9. In a device of the class described, a palette having a plurality of apertures, a corresponding number of tube-carrying members each having a duct to convey pigment to the palette, means to support said members with their ducts registering with the apertures, a pigment containing tube carried by each member, and a removable carrier having a plurality of cups adapted to cover the apertures in the palette when the latter is not in use.

10. Apaint-box havingapartition provided with a plurality of apertures and constituting a palette, a corresponding number of pigment-containing tubes supported beneath the partition, eachtube having its outlet communicating with the corresponding aperture, a carrier having a cup-like cover for each aperture, and means to removably support said carrier whereby when the box is closed the cup-like covers exclude the air from the apertures but when the box is open the said covers may be removed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE H. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

MAX LUSTER, J. H. PERKINSON. 

